Shaker Heights vs Westlake

A side-by-side comparison of Shaker Heights and Westlake: population, income, housing, and more.

Shaker Heights and Westlake are places in Ohio. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Westlake has the higher population (34,036 vs 29,004 in Shaker Heights). Westlake has the higher median household income ($110,101 vs $97,721 in Shaker Heights). Westlake has the higher median home value ($336,100 vs $288,000 in Shaker Heights).

Population, income & housing

	Shaker Heights	Westlake
Population	29,004	34,036
Median age	42.0 yrs	47.1 yrs
Median household income	$97,721	$110,101
Median home value	$288,000	$336,100
Median gross rent	$1,149	$1,480
Housing units	14,205	15,781
Homeownership rate	60.2%	72.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	69.7%	58.4%
Unemployment rate	4.9%	3.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Shaker Heights	Westlake
Population	27,387 → 29,004 (+5.9%)	32,275 → 34,036 (+5.5%)
Median household income	$87,235 → $97,721 (+12.0%)	$86,008 → $110,101 (+28.0%)
Median home value	$229,500 → $288,000 (+25.5%)	$258,600 → $336,100 (+30.0%)
Median gross rent	$1,026 → $1,149 (+12.0%)	$1,174 → $1,480 (+26.1%)

Shaker Heights

Population

27,38729,004

Median household income

$87,235$97,721

Median home value

$229,500$288,000

Median gross rent

$1,026$1,149

Westlake

Population

32,27534,036

Median household income

$86,008$110,101

Median home value

$258,600$336,100

Median gross rent

$1,174$1,480

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Shaker Heights	Westlake
Under 5	6.7%	4.0%
5 to 17	16.7%	16.5%
18 to 24	6.2%	6.7%
25 to 34	10.4%	9.1%
35 to 44	14.3%	11.0%
45 to 54	12.8%	13.1%
55 to 64	11.1%	15.5%
65 to 74	12.8%	13.1%
75 and over	9.1%	11.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Shaker Heights	Westlake
White (non-Hispanic)	54.2%	84.6%
Black or African American	33.2%	1.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	4.0%	6.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.9%	0.1%
Two or more races	4.6%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	3.1%	3.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Shaker Heights	Westlake
No high school diploma	1.5%	4.5%
High school graduate	8.6%	14.6%
Some college or associate's	20.3%	22.5%
Bachelor's degree	28.0%	32.0%
Graduate or professional degree	41.6%	26.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Shaker Heights	Westlake
Drove alone	68.8%	73.4%
Carpooled	6.1%	5.4%
Public transit	4.3%	0.2%
Walked	1.3%	1.1%
Bicycle	0.5%	0.1%
Worked from home	18.0%	19.2%
Other means	0.9%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Shaker Heights	Westlake
1-unit, detached	54.5%	58.2%
1-unit, attached	3.0%	9.2%
2 to 4 units	10.3%	2.9%
5 to 19 units	11.3%	16.4%
20 or more units	20.8%	12.9%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.4%

Poverty & households

	Shaker Heights	Westlake
Poverty rate	7.1%	5.1%
Average household size	2.21	2.26
Mean commute (minutes)	23	24
Median year structure built	1944	1983